A hundred computer-savvy people joined forces on teams of two to four people to participate in the 9th annual JOLT competition over the weekend.
JOLT, hosted by The Venture Center, is a high-energy, multi-day cybersecurity competition designed to test problem-solving skills, teamwork and technical expertise in a fast-paced, capture-the-flag format.
The players spanned a wide range of ages and were a mix of returning people and newbies.
“We like to say there’s 16-year-olds competing against 60-year-olds,” Chris Wright, a game maker, said. “You’ve got the industry professionals or people that have been in the space for years, providing mentorship and teaching someone younger something new.”
Wright said it is more than a competition, though.
“We like to call it a networking event disguised as a competition,” he said. “Really, this isn’t some kind of cutthroat competition; it’s more just to bring like-minded people together so they can hang out and meet each other.”
This year’s theme was “The 2025 Cyber Trial in a Startup World.” The participants acted as IT personnel for a fake social media company called Jitter.
The team of game masters begins planning, creating and coding various puzzles long before the event. Leading up to the weekend, it is a lot of work for both them and The Venture Center, which hosts the event and handles the logistics.
2nd Place – UALR CyberTrojans!
“While it’s The Venture Center’s program, the GMs are really the brains behind the operation,” said Ashley Jones, vice president of operations at The Venture Center. “They’re all in the cybersecurity space. They all have different backgrounds and expertise.”
Even after months of planning and three days of running the competition, Wright and the other game masters seemed in good spirits.
“We get a ‘jolt’ of energy from the weekend, no pun intended,” he said.
Some of the past participants and winners have even gone on to become game masters, which Jones said helps make them even better at creating the games.
“I think that makes a better game maker, too, because they’ve seen both sides and know what the participants are interested in,” she said.
One participant, Bryce Ebsen, an IT manager with Forge Institute, was a third-time participant at this year’s JOLT. This year, he was on a two-person team and said it’s definitely easier being on a larger team, but he still had fun and learned a lot.
He said he liked interacting with different teams throughout the weekend and recognized a few faces from years past.
Another team consisted of four UCA students. They all said it had been a fun weekend but that it was also tiring.
At the start of closing ceremonies Sunday afternoon, competitors buzzed with excitement and energy drinks, which were found on almost every table.
Jones thanked the participants, especially given the harsh weather the weekend had brought.
“Thanks for riding out the storm with us, literally,” she told the audience.
3rd Place – B4nK R0bB3rs
Next, the GMs went through the solutions to a few puzzles, which were met with cheers from those who had solved them right and groans of frustration from those who were just then seeing the solution and realizing what they could have done differently.
GM Daniel Spillers said the team of game masters was “throwing everything and the kitchen sink” at participants this year to test their skills and help them learn new ones.
Some honorable mention awards included “Most Likely to Get a Call from the FBI.” Another was the “Boosted” award, which went to the team that solved a puzzle room the fastest. Their prizes were thrifted coffee makers.
Some other hard workers who impressed the game maker team over the weekend were awarded Jitter-branded wooden hammers because they all continued to “hammer away” at the puzzles, even if they were difficult.
The team that impressed the game masters the most received a signed J, O, L and T, as well as $75 gift cards.
Then, it was time for the top three places to be announced, which would receive $500, $750 and $1,000 to be split among the team.
In the end, the teams on the winners’ podium were B4nK R0bB3rs, who took third place; UALR CyberTrojans!, who took second place; and c0mm4ndl1n3c0wb0ys, who took first place.
The first-place winners took it for the second year in a row.
“They come for the accolades and friendships and networking. That’s why we don’t put too much emphasis on prizes and large sums of money–because that’s not what it’s about,” Jones told AMP. “It’s about getting together, growing your skill set, meeting new people and bringing your friends to participate next year.”
Feature Photo: 1st Place – c0mm4ndl1n3c0wb0ys
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